Overstrand Life - Janet's Diaries

March 1st - 15th 2012

Saturday 3rd March - Garden up to Date, Sea Marge Hotel Frontage and New Cromer Hospital Opens its Doors

Stating the obvious – It’s March! Time now to look positively forward towards warmer weather; not that we have had a bad winter. It was really just the high winds in November and the snowfall in February followed by icy road surfaces that bought us true wintry conditions; certainly nowhere as severe as the past two years.

Apart from mowing the lawns we are pretty well up to date in the garden and with tomato, peppers and aubergine seeds sown in pots these are now in the propagator and will be keenly watched each day for signs of germination. Spurred by the media reports of a dry season ahead, Peter has been looking into buying another water butt to add to our ‘collection’. The question is where to put it without blocking accesses; we have yet to find an answer but it really does make sense to capture as much rain as we can for watering the garden.

Walking along the High Street the other day we saw the railings in front of the Sea Marge Hotel have been removed and in their place stainless steel posts have been erected, three of which support advertising banners. Two questions come to mind, firstly, are these appropriate outside a Grade II listed building and secondly, whether they enhance one of the most aesthetically pleasing buildings in Overstrand. The answers are a matter of personal opinion.

Great news on the North Norfolk News website; the long awaited new Cromer Hospital opened its doors this week. Over the next couple of weeks, all the facilities and services will transfer and when this is complete the old hospital will be demolished providing car parking.

As you can see from the heading; I have a fair bit to cover since my last update on Saturday. Starting with the rain; this commenced on late Sunday morning and continued through into Monday night. It started light and gentle, just what we and the farmers needed but later the rate increased and the winds picked up, whistling round our home and funnelling down the chimney. The wind woke me up on numerous occasions during Sunday night and I lay there listening to hear if anything was blowing round the garden; maybe a fencing panel? Peering out in the morning all was well; no damage. We were excused walking Barney; he prefers not to venture out in conditions such as these, except that is for calls of nature and apart from seeing to the chickens needs and popping up to the village on an errand, we spent Monday indoors.

By the end of the day we could be heard muttering phrases such as ‘how much longer’ and ‘flipping weather’; all directed at the continuing rain and wind. We are just not used to being on the receiving end of such unremitting precipitation in our dry county of Norfolk. All quietened down in the night and after Sunday’s sleep disturbances, I slept like a babe!

Of course we did not waste time during our ‘incarceration’. Peter passed me the details of a website he found for Norfolk Churches. Norfolk has numerous grand and impressive churches; out walking, it is not uncommon to be able to see around four church towers dotted across the countryside, from a single vantage point. I have added the website to the Links page on the button titled ‘Norfolk Churches’. It is really well worth taking a look at the site, there is masses of information, covering not only existing churches but ruins too.

Harbour Porpoise

The Overstrand Gardening Club meeting started with details of two trips the club are hoping to run, the first in June to Capel Manor and the second in September to Fairhaven Water Gardens. Information about the Summer Social event was presented to members and looking well ahead; a possible venue for the Christmas Lunch. This was followed by an informative talk from Pauline Harper titled ‘Plot to Pot’. Pauline started with the simplest of ‘pots’, cress in a plastic container which takes about a week from sowing the seeds before it is ready to eat; demonstrating you don’t have to grow on a grand scale. During the rest of her talk she imparted good tips on growing in containers and raised beds, showing slides illustrating that vegetables in raised beds, hanging baskets and containers, can look just as attractive as flowering plants.

Wednesday morning and more rain, just showers and without Sundays wind. Fishing boat Jayne Marie is now down on the area of the promenade devoted to Overstand’s two fishing boats and she was being loaded with pots and markers, ready to be launched on the receding tide. Meanwhile boats from Cromer, where they are less reliant on the tides for launching, were already out dropping pots off Overstrand and towards Sidestrand and Trimingham. In the past buying crabs from Overstrand needed to be timed with end of a boiling session and they had to be dressed at home. But things look set to change; the boiling shed is being modified and I am told; there will be a ‘shop’ area where we will be able to buy dressed crabs and lobsters. Now there’s a pleasant thought, wandering along in the summer to buy freshly dressed crabs to take home and eat for lunch in our garden.

A great improvement in the weather on Tuesday and while I prepared to go to the Overstrand Gardening Club meeting in the afternoon, Peter took Barney down to the beach for a good run along the sands. Later Peter showed me the photo’s he had taken of a dead Harbour Porpoise, washed up on the beach. Harbour Porpoises are not uncommon; we have seen them swimming off the coast but this unfortunate soul had met its end and the two holes in its head posed the question as to whether it could have been shot. The North Norfolk News reported a couple of weeks ago of a dead harbour porpoise found with damage of the type which could have been inflicted by a Killer Whale. In case you wonder why I refer to a Killer Whale; recently one had been seen off Sheringham however, I doubt if a whale could inflict the type of specific holes seen on the body washed up at Overstrand.

Saturday 10th March - Parish Council Meeting and About Spring.

We put in our usual attendance, as members of the public, at the Overstrand Parish Council meeting on Wednesday evening. Various topics were covered including, the quotes for the redecoration of the Parish Hall and the new village website. A letter from the Strand Club thanking the Council for the considerable contribution towards the Village Defibrillator was read out and the expression of interest in seeking funding for various business prospects in the village was confirmed. The latter was agreed at the third Parish Council Business Forum with no details imparted at the meeting as to what the business prospects are likely to be. However, it was mentioned at an earlier Parish Council meeting; the possibility of an application for funding for a feasibility study for the construction of a Marina.

Following the day of rain on Monday and showers on Wednesday, there is a definite feeling of spring in the air. A particular favourite spring flower of mine is the Primrose and there are plenty in bloom on the banks and verges. In addition there are the vibrant yellow Celandine, purple Violets, the Alexander plants are as widespread as ever, buds on shrubs are breaking open and on a lunch-time walk on Friday we were serenaded by the Skylarks. Walking Barney first thing Saturday I actually managed without my gloves, something for a chilly mortal like me. After breakfast I opened the windows to give our home a blow through.

Madams Lane

It needed it, I had cooked smoked haddock and chicken curry on Friday evening; you can imagine the mix of stale aromas that prevailed! Leaving the odours to disperse, we spent most of the morning in the garden giving the grass its first mow of the season, as well as edging borders and sweeping paths. One of our favourite vegetables, purple sprouting has benefited for the recent warmth and we are looking forward to our first picking to accompany roast lamb on Sunday and there may even be enough rhubarb under the forcing pot to make a pudding. Yes, everything is coming to life following winter dormancy.

On the Bank

Walking along the promenade Monday morning, we watched a crab boat hauling up pots. It was bright and sunny but not for long; within minutes the sea mists came in, the boat disappeared from view and there was a distinct chill. Since then we have been enveloped in grey and apart from walking on the beach first thing, we have walked inland where it has been a few degrees warmer.

Following the driest eighteen month period for one hundred years, Anglian Water will be imposing a ban on hosepipes from 5th April; the first ban for twenty years. The message put out by the media is for consumers to adapt their behaviour to reflect the severity of the situation, with suggestions such as watering the garden using a watering can and cleaning cars using buckets of water. Amazing, I never would have thought of those alternatives – sorry for the sarcasm, but honestly!

We regularly follow a blog written by a British guy; he lives with his partner on a small Greek Island. We have visited the island a few times; it is rocky and dry, bordering on the lunar but this year they have experienced above average rainfall – sounds as though they have had some of ours! Despite this they are still frugal with their water consumption; rain water is collected in cisterns below the houses and when this is consumed, water is shipped in from a neighbouring larger island. Reading his recent blog, they had a couple of suggestions for ways of saving water. These included putting a large bowl in the shower to stand in and collect the water and running water into a smaller bowl rather than straight into the wash hand basin. They use the collected water to flush the toilet but maybe we could adapt and use the water for the garden, this would certainly save a few pence for those of us who have water meters. I don’t imagine small amounts of shower gel, soap, toothpaste and the like would have an adverse effect on plants; in fact the soap may act as a systemic bug killer. It’s a thought anyway.

Anyone who has an interest in Greece and would like to read the blog, www.symidream.com